UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

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saso
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by saso »

Is having this icons really ok, some of them could be under TM or some similar legal thing?
triplus
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by triplus »

saso wrote:Is having this icons really ok, some of them could be under TM or some similar legal thing?
Which ones? Likely not but if there is such issue i guess the name of the navigation style would need to change too?

As i plan to upstream the work i don't want to introduce loose ends. Therefore if other feel some icons should change due to legal concerns list them and solution will be provided before upstreaming the work.
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pablogil
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by pablogil »

Well, the truth is that Maya, OpenInventor (FEI) and OpenCascade icons are designed following the guidelines of their official logos but only these last ones may be under TM. I don't think we are breaking any license by adding a icon that barely reminds of its original...

Blender logo is taken from the original source but we are allowed to use it as its open source.

What do you think?
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triplus
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by triplus »

Hi Pablo.

If i look at the current OpenInventor icon we use. That is not OpenInventor logo. Therefore i don't see an issue there. As for CAD, Touchpad and Gesture no issue there.

As for Blender, MayaGesture and OpenCascade icon. This is likely highly exaggerated but OK lets say current icons remind us too much of some other product logo and we don't want to do that. Pablo can you do a variation with for example only 3 bigger squares for the OpenCascade one? And lets say some sort of filled triangle with rounded corners for the MayaGesture one? For Blender i don't know yet. If you have any ideas go for it. It can be a sphere as far as i am concerned. I plan to introduce additional small feature and that is why it is important dedicated icons are provided.

P.S. If you plan to work on this take your time.
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saso
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

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So unfortunately I am not able to give a clear advise what is ok and what is not, because I don't know. But I do believe it is a different thing to just write Coca Cola or use their original logo... And speaking of Blender as open source it is actually a good example, because this does not automatically give permission to their logo and trade mark, here is what blender has to say about it https://www.blender.org/about/logo/

As we can see it is most probably ok for use to use it in this case, I would understand we fall under point 2, but it would actually not be ok to use a changed logo... This however does not mean that the same is true for other logos and names.

I don't think this would be a mayor legal issue, but it could be possible that we would have to add some legal mumbo jumbo like "blah blah blah and blah blah blah are registered trademarks or trademarks of blah blah blah, in the blah blah blah and other countries... blah blah blah" because of it :)
Last edited by saso on Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
triplus
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by triplus »

saso wrote:So unfortunately I am not able to give a clear advise what is ok and what is not, because I don't know. But I do believe it is a different thing to just write Coca Cola or use their original logo...
Likely it's the same thing in the end.

P.S. Anyway i plan to upstream something and i don't plan to introduce loose ends i can easily fix. Therefore mentioned 3 icons will change in the future and that is that for now.
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saso
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by saso »

triplus wrote:Therefore mentioned 3 icons will change in the future and that is that for now.
But blender (as I understand) does not want you to do that, they prefer you use their nice and shiny logo as long as it is not in conflict with their other guidelines :)
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by triplus »

saso wrote:
triplus wrote:Therefore mentioned 3 icons will change in the future and that is that for now.
But blender (as I understand) does not want you to do that, they prefer you use their nice and shiny logo as long as it is not in conflict with their other guidelines :)
Well the Blender icon wasn't added by Pablo as it was added by me. And rest assured i studied that legal guidelines before doing that. ;)

P.S. But now i feel that uncertainty could be the result if we use logo of any product for navigation indicator purposes. And i don't really need an icon resembling a logo of any product in any way. I just need stylish and distinctive icon for each navigation style and that is that.
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by kkremitzki »

Now, I am not a lawyer, but I think this may be much ado about nothing.
Fair Use Guidelines:
In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
For #1 we fall into the nonprofit educational purposes. For #2 as long as we aren't using art assets that were created by said product without their permission, we should be fine. For #3, we are only making X-inspired mouse models and not coming anywhere near replicating their work. For #4, we are not likely to have substantial impact on their market share.

It isn't necessarily forbidden or material for a lawsuit to depict a logo, much less have an image that looks like a logo. Take for example Andy Warhol's famous Campbell's Soup Cans work of art. It's fair use, because he isn't trying to use that logo to sell soup.
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Re: UI improvement proposal: mouse navigation indicator

Post by pablogil »

Don't worry guys, I'll upload this afternoon heavy variations of the logos. With triplus ideas and other mines I think we can easily solve the issue. ;)
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